Shoriful Islam passes fitness test ahead of Australia series

Bangladesh would heave a sigh of relief as pacer Shoriful Islam has passed the fitness test ahead of the Test series against Australia.

Bangladesh Cricket Board officials confirmed the development to on Tuesday (August 11).

According to reliable sources, Shoriful will soon fly out to be available for the second Test, despite missing the first Test due to a hamstring injury suffered during the Zimbabwe tour in July.

“He (Shoriful) passed the fitness test as he was recovering from an injury and now he is fit to play,” Shahriar Nafees, BCB’s cricket-operation in-charge, told on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh fielding coach Ashiqur Rahman said that they were happy with the progress of Litton Kumar Das, who is recovering from an injury aheadof the first Test against Australia in Darwin. The wicketkeeper-batter took part in the team’s slip-catching and wicketkeeping drills on Tuesday

“Litton's movement was very good, and you could see him keeping wickets and taking slip catches. Alhamdulillah,” Ashiqur told reporters after the training session.

Litton did not take part in the team’s batting session on Tuesday, but he was involved in football and fielding activities as Bangladesh continued their preparations for the opening Test, scheduled to begin at Marrara Cricket Ground on Thursday (August 13).

The 31-year-old’s fitness remains an important consideration for Bangladesh ahead of the two-match series, with the team management closely monitoring his recovery.

Ashiqur added that his players needed to work hard on their concentration, which is the key to being a good fielding unit.

“The biggest thing is to maintain concentration. In longer-version cricket, the ball does not come for a long time, but when one comes, you have to take that one,” said Ashiqur.

The primary objective of the players in longer-version cricket is to convert a half-chance into a full chance. Our team's players are aware of this. We are working on this, on how concentration can be increased,” he said.

He continued, "Our players are mentally prepared to fight in the Test."